Soulmate
by FriendLey
Summary: Companion piece to Blank. Black Bolt's point of view as he meets his soulmate. Complete


**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel's Inhumans or any of its characters used in this story. What is written here is for entertainment purposes only. No infringement is intended and no profits are being made from this fic.**

There are three constant things in Blackagar Boltagon's life: his room, his parents, and the marking on his arm.

As far as Blackagar could remember, his sound-proof chamber has always been his home, his parents his teachers, and the writing on his arm his lifeline.

 _You're not a monster_ is written in pretty looping letters up his arm, ending just as it reaches the back of his elbow.

Blackagar's always wondered why he was isolated away from the others and the only reason he didn't think it was because he did something wrong or that it was because he was a monster was due to the writing on his arm.

He's not a monster.

He clutches at his arm whenever he needs to convince himself of that fact, whenever he's destroyed something… hurt someone.

It is during a grueling and difficult session on mental exercises that Agon, Blackagar's father, decides to take a short break.

The geneticist sees his son touching his right arm and he sits down beside the eight-year-old boy.

Blackagar catches his father watching him and he stops fidgeting with his arm. But Agon's expression is pensive.

"You know what that is, son?" Agon asks, a wistful smile on his face.

Blackagar shakes his head.

Agon takes Blackagar's arm, runs a thumb over the writing and says, "it's a soulmark."

Blackagar frowns, confusion knitting his brows.

His father can read the question in the boy's eyes. _Soulmark?_

"Each inhuman is born with a soulmark," explains Agon. "It's the first words that their soulmates say to them. And what's a soulmate? It's the one person you're destined to be with for the rest of your life, the person you marry, grow old with..."

Blackagar takes his writing board and writes, _Do you have one?_

"A soulmark?" asks Agon.

Blackagar nods.

"Rght here, behind my ear." Agaon flattens his ear so his son can see. _You're in my spot._

Blackagar gives his father an amused look.

Agon shrugs. "Your mother didn't like it that I was in her corner of the laboratory. We started our relationship fighting a lot and competing against each other but eventually we worked it out. And we had you."

His son presses his lips together, mouth curling up.

Agon motions to Blackagar's arm again. "If you meet a girl that says these words right here, she's the one. And if your soulmate's first words are anything to go by, I think she's one helluva inhuman."

Blackagar smiles sheepishly as his father ruffles his hair.

The days that come after are spent day-dreaming about what his soulmate looks like. Is she small, is she stout, does she have dark or fair hair? What does she sound like? Is her voice sweet and melodious, or boring and flat?

After Blackagar's exhausted all possible images of his soulmate, his thoughts turn grim. He's not allowed to go outside. How is he ever going to meet his soulmate if he's stuck in his room with only his parents for visitors?

Blackagar mentally groans and plops down his bed, staring at the ceiling.

The chances of him ever meeting his soulmate are slim. The probability is almost zero!

But...

He raises his right arm.

These words prove that he _will_ meet his soulmate... Some day.

He doesn't wait for that day too long.

Years later, a cute, small girl with vibrant red hair that has a life of its own comes sniffling into his room and uttering _those_ words.

Blackagar's heart thunders so loudly he thinks she might hear it.

And then she comments quite frankly that his name is too long. So, Blackagar, in his desperation to impress, gives her the affectionate epithet his mother calls him.

Medusa tries the name out on her tongue and Blackagar's enchanted.

 _You're more than I imagined,_ he thinks.

It is in that moment that he decides to go by Black Bolt. Medusa's right. Blackagar Boltagon _is_ a mouthful.

"Why don't you talk?" Medusa asks suddenly. "Don't you have a voice?"

Black Bolt wonders how much he should tell her. Does he tell her about the science behind it, the workings of his powers? Is he even allowed to tell strangers about his power?

But Medusa isn't a stranger, he tells himself.

He writes down a short but apt explanation and the comforting smile Medusa gives him in reply is a balm.

"That's alright. I have no soulmark and you can't talk," Medusa says. "We make quite a pair, don't we?"

Black Bolt smiles at her optimism.

It is only later when she leaves that Black Bolt reviews everything that happened.

He wonders at why Medusa said she has no soulmark. His father said every Inhuman was born with one.

Worry flashes across his face. Does that mean he's not Medusa's soulmate?

His chamber doors suddenly open and his parents make their way inside, back from their council meeting.

Black Bolt rushes to his father, expression frantic.

"Whoa, slow down. What's wrong?" asks his father, concerned.

Black Bolt scrambles to get his writing board and then scrawls untidily, _what if I'm not my soulmate's soulmate?_

The concerned look of his father's melts away into relief and then he chuckles. Turning to Black Bolt's mother, he says, "It's okay, my Queen. I'll handle this. Boy stuff." He adds with a wink.

Rynda cocks a bemused brow but wordlessly leaves them alone.

Putting a hand on Black Bolt's back, Agon leads them to the bed to sit down.

Agon looks at the question written down and then turns to his son. "It's rare. But it can happen. Some soulmates are not mutually exclusive. We don't know why, unfortunately. Those are still one of the things the Genetic Council is looking into."

Black Bolt nods sadly, his head lowered in disappointment.

"Hey," Agon tips Black Bolt's chin up. "I'm sure that's not the case with you and your soulmate."

Black Bolt shakes his head and then tells his father about the visitor he had in his room.

After Agon berates Black Bolt of the dangers of having an unsanctioned visitor in his chamber, he calms down well enough to listen to the rest of his son's afternoon.

The soulmate's name is Medusa.

She's pretty and funny.

Her hair is cool.

She doesn't have a soulmark.

Black Bolt's father hums in thought. Then, he smiles comfortingly at his son.

"Don't worry. I know about Medusalith's… case. She's a late bloomer is all. Sometimes, marks take time to appear."

Black Bolt nods, his worries simmering down. He takes his board and writes, _May I see her again?_

Agon ponders lengthily, too long to the point that Black Bolt fears he'll refuse. And then he says, "alright."

Black Bolt grins.

Medusa becomes a regular at Black Bolt's chamber, bringing with her some manner of insects or plants that she thinks the room needs to look "homey."

She suggests they make some form of sign language so he doesn't rely on his writing board too much.

It's the best fun he's had for _months_.

And then she asks if he has a soulmark.

Black Bolt nods.

"May I see?" Medusa asks.

Black Bolt shakes his head.

"Come on!" insists Medusa, her hair shaking Black Bolt by his shoulders.

Black Bolt refuses to show his marks to her in the event that she doesn't like being his soulmate and stops her visits. It would be worse if she felt indebted to him and forced herself to like him.

Black Bolt tells himself he'll show his marks when she gets hers.

But Medusa grows taller, her hair grows thicker and longer, her eyes shine brighter but her marks don't appear.

And she's slowly giving up on ever finding her soulmate and it frustrates Black Bolt to no end.

Here she is, his soulmate, but he can't be with her because _he's_ not _her_ soulmate.

And then Black Bolt turns 19 and he thinks that now that he's finally allowed to go outside, things will change.

And they do.

Medusa doesn't hit him anymore when he signs something inappropriate or stupid. And Black Bolt signed every manner of ridiculous words just to test his soulmate's resolve.

She walks with her hands behind her back. Her hair doesn't flick playfully at him. And she avoids him… Just him.

It makes Black Bolt wonder if… did she somehow find out about his mark? Is this her way of telling him she wasn't interested?

He runs up to Medusa's apartment and finds her sitting dangerously on the ledge of her balcony.

Not for the first time he thinks at what could bother her this much to render his soulmate so morose and sullen.

"I like someone," Medusa finally admits.

Black Bolt feels his stomach drop, feels the breath knocked out of him. For all his mental training, he had never prepared himself against this.

"But he's not my soulmate. Because I don't have one." She mutters icily. "He's marked and pursuing a marked Inhuman is forbidden. And I… It would have been better had I been born without feelings too."

Black Bolt knows one thing: he loves Medusa and if someone has indirectly caused her to feel this way, to hurt this much…

 _Want me to have a word with him?_ He signs and he means every single gesture. It isn't a joke this time. He'll talk if it means making Medusa smile again.

"Thank you, but talking to him would be pretty impossible," says his soulmate.

Black Bolt raises a brow. He doubts the man will survive a talk with him, let alone a whisper.

"Because it's you…"

Black Bolt almost doesn't hear her.

"I like you."

All thought drains from Black Bolt completely and he does the one thing he's always dreamed of doing: he kisses her.

It's his first time to kiss someone; he doesn't know how, he's sure it's sloppy what with his lips tightly pressed together, but it sure does feel _right._

And Medusa's kissing him back and there's too much emotions bubbling inside Black Bolt, too much happiness, too much love. It doesn't matter that she has no soulmark because she likes him! She likes _him!_

Medusa abruptly pushes Black Bolt away, but his feelings won't be.

"What—why—you can't." Medusa sputtering is an adorable sight and Black Bolt grins.

 _Yes I can,_ he signs smugly to her. He pulls up his sleeve and finally shows Medusa his soulmark.

He watches her as she reads it, sees the recognition in her eyes, the comprehension and relief that come after.

The next thing Black Bolt knows is that those fiery red tendrils are all around him, bringing him closer and closer to his soulmate and they're kissing again.

A year later, on their wedding night, Black Bolt plants reverent kisses all over Medusa's blank skin.

He knows now why she's unmarked.

Black Bolt's never needed to _say_ anything for Medusa to understand him.

He pulls back from her lips and gazes down at his wife.

He blinks.

"I love you too," says his soulmate.

 **A/N: The end.**


End file.
